2nd Sunday of Easter, Year A
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“Do not persist in your unbelief, but
believe!”
The gospel passage for the second Sunday of Easter
Easter Sunday is taken from the gospel of John. It
recounts the story of Jesus appearing first to the
group of apostles without Thomas with them. And so,
when Thomas came back to the group and the group
narrated to Thomas that the Lord had appeared to
them, Thomas did not believe. He said, “I’ll never
believe it without probing the nail-prints in his
hands, without putting my finger in the nail-marks
and my hand into his side.” A week later, the
group of disciples were gathered, and Thomas was
with them this time. Jesus again appeared in His
resurrected body to the apostles and said to Thomas,
“Take your finger and examine My hands. Put your
hands into My side. Do not persist in your unbelief,
but believe!” Thomas said in response, “My Lord
and my God!”
For many of us Catholics and Christians, we take
for granted our belief in Christ the Risen Lord.
But during the time of the apostles, not all may
have believed that Jesus has really risen from the
dead. And Thomas was one of these disciples. The
apostle Thomas was lucky that the Lord made His
appearance again to the disciples with him present
amongst the group. But Jesus exclaimed something
even greater than what transpired in the sudden
faith of Thomas:
“You became a believer because you saw Me, blest
are they who have not seen and have believed.”
Faith is a gift and is not given to all people.
Sometimes it is obtained through an intense
conversion experience. At other occasions, it may
be the result of a great hope that God will make
things better; He shall make all things well.
But we usually project our faith from our present
situation into the future where our hope lies in
God. This is the challenge for most of us -
especially when the times of testing and trial
arrive into our family circle or our social network
of friends and acquaintances. The attitude we can
take is to be open to God in prayer and be humble
to accept that we need the help of others. Like
Thomas, we are called to go back to those whom
we have shared our faith, and believe together
with them, so that we too may see the Lord as
they did.
